for years, mandela didn't even have a bed in here, just a mat on the concrete floor. ♪ ♪ nelson mandela >> reporter: for all the celebration there's also anxiety here. nelson mandela, the nation's most famous son is also for many its founding father. the question is, what will it be like without him? tomorrow, that day of prayer, then a massive memorial, and finally the burial itself but lester, it is expected to be wet all week. >> richard engel in johannesburg tonight. mandela had been in prison 13 years when high school students here in soweto launched a protest against the ruling apar thid government. although mandela will remain in prison 14 years the protest marked a turning point that changed the country's direction. one teenage boy and an iconic photo became symbols of a need for change. the young girl is antoinette peterson, the bloodied and lifeless boys in the arms of a stranger is her 13-year-old brother, hector. it was june 16th, 1976, the day the soweto uprising began. >> all of a sudden there was a shot. can you imagine that number running for cover? >> reporter: it began